The War Memorial located near the Southwick Congregational Church at the intersection of Depot Street and College Highway could be relocated due to non-compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) because the memorial is not fully accessible. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
SOUTHWICK – The town War Memorial could be relocated due to necessary code updates.
Buildings and Grounds Manager John Westcott met with the Board of Selectmen this week to discuss the situation. Westcott said once the state put sidewalks on College Highway, the town became in violation of the American with Disabilities Act. (ADA).
“Last Memorial Day, several complaints were filed against the War Memorial area,” Westcott said.
The memorial is located at the corner of College Highway and Depot Street on property owned by the Southwick Congregational Church. The church leases the land to the town for free and the town maintains the memorial.
Westcott said he began researching the steps the town could take and said one option is to move the War Memorial entirely.
“The question is whether we’re going to keep the memorial there because it is on property we don’t own, or move it to Prifti Park, Town Hall or the cemetery,” Westcott said.
Initial estimates to move the memorial are about $7,500. The entire project could cost $50,000.
“It has to be fully accessible,” he said. “We need at least a four-foot sidewalk and none of the stone or gravel there now is accessible product – we need to have a 24-inch deep base with packed earth or asphalt.”
Regardless of the location, the sidewalk around the entire memorial is necessary to be compliant with ADA.
Westcott said one bonus of moving it to the cemetery is there would be room to expand to include additional memorials to commemorate other wars, such as the War in Afghanistan.
“Where it is now, expanding would be very hard to do,” said Westcott.
Selectmen Chairman Russell Fox said he could not make a decision without more information.
‘We need to do more research,” said Fox. “We have a wonderful relationship with the Congregational Church.”
Fox said the current location is prominent and having more than one memorial in a town is common.
“We need hard, concrete facts and see what waivers we could get from the state – let’s get the facts first,” he said.
Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion in Southwick voiced their opinion strongly to keep the memorial intact.
John Andrews of the VFW wondered if the church would deed the property to the town.
Westcott noted that the church offered to give the town a 99-year lease, at no charge, but was not likely to hand over the land.
Town Accountant Linda Carr expressed hesitation about keeping it where it is and upgrading.
“One of my main concerns is putting money into property we don’t own,” she said.
Carr added she recently applied for a $5,000 grant that could possibly be used toward the project.
Russ Pike of the American Legion Post 338 said he wants the War Memorial to stay where it is, calling it “a real piece of our past.”
The matter will be taken up at a future Board of Selectmen meeting once more information has been gathered.
